Kade McNamara, District Eight female- 13
The sack of grain was heavy in my arms. It seemed like so much food. My arms were burning as I held it upright, even with the help of the little bar it was resting on. I always felt uneasy thinking of all the children who needed to put their names into the Reaping bowl just for a bag of rough, gross-tasting grain. Some of them were the same age as me. And they weren't just taking a photo.
Agrippina signaled with her hand above the camera and I sagged in relief as I let the bag rest on the plastic bar. It would be edited out of the final photo, along with anything about me the editors didn't like. It seemed almost old-fashioned that the Capitol used models at all for their advertisements. It would be just as easy to construct a person digitally. Then they could make them look like whatever they wanted. But according to the talent scout I had a very District "look". They liked my smoky skin and my blue eyes and they were especially taken with my "beauty mark". It was quite a change to be fawned over for my birthmark instead of teased and harassed. I never got to go to the Capitol, since the photographers always came here for more "authentic" photo shoots, but I wondered if there weren't a bunch of kids there who drew fake birthmarks on themselves to look like me.
Mom was talking to the photographers when I went to find her. I waited while she finished. She didn't like me interrupting her. It must have been really tiring, managing me all the time. She was always out talking to someone or arranging something while I mostly stayed home or at the daycare room with any other child models. For a lot of shoots I was the only one and I would just sit around and read or flip through the Capitol TV shows. One time some of the photos had a cat in them, though, and I got to bring her with me to they daycare room and play with her. That was the best day ever.
"All done, right?" I asked when Mom turned to me.
"Yep, that's a wrap," she said.
"Can we get lunch?" I asked. Lunch was usually the best part of the day. When I was on a photo shoot there was always a huge table filled with crazy Capitol foods from the caterer.
"Okay, honey," Mom said. She brightened up suddenly. "I think I saw a table with some nice organic raw choices. Let's try there!"
"Okay," I said. Mom liked me to eat healthy. I could see how it was important to not eat sugar so my teeth stayed healthy, but it didn't seem important for my body to look a certain way, if you asked me. The Capitolite models I met had all sorts of shapes and sizes. Trends came and went every few months but there were always people of every size.
"After lunch maybe we can go look at some new clothes. You like looking nice," Mom said.
"That sounds fun," I said. I didn't really care what I wore so I didn't mind when Mom liked to pick things out for me. It was fun hanging out with her, since she was usually so busy. When she finally got to do something she liked I was happy to let her take the lead.
Mike Mothra, District Eight male- 16
"Welcome to Mothman in the morning, good mothman to you all."
What do you when life gives you a thyroid problem so your eyes bug out, and super skinny ears that stick way up beside your head, skinny little bug arms that get scaly eczema whenever it's dry outside, and an absent father that must have been Italian since you're crazy hairy? You embrace the moth. You become the moth.
"Today's Fun Moth Fact: moths are able to smell possible mates as far as seven miles away. If I could do that, maybe I'd have more luck dating." It was also possible I'd have more luck dating if it wasn't for the moth suit I often wore. But I had to be true to myself. Being a furry- or a buggy, in my case- wasn't just an aesthetic. It was a lifestyle.
"Today our special guest is... ME, because this is just a local access station with me on a ham radio and I do not have the money to attract special guests," I said into the microphone of the audio setup I had in my mother's basement. "So if you don't want to hear me talk, I suggest you find a different free local access radio show. But there really aren't any so you're kind of stuck with me."
My radio show was more for myself than for anyone who might be listening. I knew some people were listening, since I'd set up a PO box and once in a while people donated money, which I usually turned over to my mother for groceries and bills. It wasn't enough that I didn't have to work but it was enough that I could work part-time and have energy for my show.
The nice thing about radio is that no one knows you're a moth. I wasn't ashamed of myself but my strange appearance did make it harder for me to go out in public inconspicuously. Luckily I didn't care about being inconspicuous but even so, it was hard to always get stared at. I thought of myself as a normal person. I didn't pick my body, just like everyone else. I may have looked weird but underneath that I had the same thoughts and dreams and insecurities of anyone else. When I wore my fursuit no one knew what I really looked like and I could put on a completely different persona. I could be more outgoing and exuberant without having to worry about what I really looked like, since my costume was only a costume. But on the radio I could just be me without any masks or worries at all. I was a completely normal boy who liked to talk about moths or tell silly jokes or just muse about my day. It was like having a diary, but shared with other people. It was like I could be open and honest and have real friends, even if they were just random people who also had ham radios.
"So tomorrow's Reaping Day. Big day, huh? I'm never as scared as I probably should be. I'm not strong or anything so I'd probably die but like, what are the odds? There's so many people around here. Mostly for me Reaping Day is just the day I go out and get to meet literally everyone my age in the entire District. You know how many friends I've made just from chatting with the people next to me in line? And I've never lost one to the Games yet. Here's hoping I keep my streak."
"Mike! Dinner's almost ready! Come set the table," my mom called from upstairs.
I leaned back from the microphone. "Okay, be right there!" I leaned back to the microphone. "Sorry, folks, gotta end this one early. Mom's calling. See you next time and remember to fly high and fly proud!"
Kade: She has straight black hair that falls past her shoulders, and olive skin and teal blue eyes. Her face is heavily freckled, which she is often teased for. There is a wine stain birthmark on her neck going up to her cheek. She is of Iranian ethnicity.
Mike: Since I think it's hilarious to post this, here's Mike's original description. A 5"5 man with the characteristics of a moth, big bug eyes, antennae, fuzzy/furry moth skin, and sticky bug arms. He dresses like a human, usually smart or smart casual.
Is that describing his fursuit? How he sees himself? Or how he literally looks? That's for me and his submitter to know and you to make wild theories about.
IMPORTANT NOTE: I'm missing several forms, which is why I haven't been able to update. Here's what I think I need still. If you're on here and you already sent in your form that means I misplaced it or just need to go recheck my messages, which I'll be doing periodically so you can either remind me you sent it or I'll be updating the list as I find more. If you haven't sent in your form that's okay, I just want to make sure you know you HAVE a reservation since sometimes people don't know that I usually post reservations in the first chapter. If you have a reservation and can't submit that's also 100% fine, just tell me so I can reopen the slot and I'll be glad to re-reserve for next Games if you want to submit but are busy right now. Also if you want to submit but are busy you have the option of sending a bare-bones form so I can write a Reaping and then you can fill in the rest at your leisure as I write other Reapings.
1f tracey
3m PrinceofCorinth
4m neonfunerals
5f I actually forgot who's here but I know it's somewhere so don't worry about this one
5m Sparky
6f Valencia Cadillac, 18- loner (QueenofFunerals) I'm pretty sure you sent them but I can't find them so I'll keep looking or you can resend if you want
6m Romeo Auto, 18- Career (QueenofFunerals)
9f Amaranth Harvey, 12- loner (new to this) You sent in Jack so you probably sent Amaranth and I misplaced her